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It is never too soon to point out the silliness of the loser point.
Look, this season isn’t even 10 days old and if you can’t laugh at this, there’s something wrong.
The Swift Current Broncos have played five games.
They have one victory. They have four losses, each of which has been worth a loser point.
That means they are on pace for 14.4 victories and 86.4 points.
Last season, 86 points would have left them in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
In their first five games this season, the Broncos have one victory, three overtime losses and a shootout loss.
On Saturday night, they lost 2-1 in OT to the visiting Saskatoon Blades.
Despite having won just one game, the Broncos have six points. They are tied for third in the Eastern Conference, just two points out of top spot.
They may have lost four times but they are one of seven teams not to have tasted defeat in regulation time.
Seriously!
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BTW, the other 21 teams have earned a total of six loser points.
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SATURDAY NIGHT:
The Red Deer Rebels won for the first time in four games, and they did it by beating the Hitmen 3-2 in OT in Calgary. . . . That was Calgary’s first loss in four games, although it wasn’t a regulation-time setback. . . . The Hitmen led 2-0 on a pair of first-period PP goals. . . . F Charles Inglis, one of four 20-year-olds on Red Deer’s roster, had two goals, including the winner. He has four goals over his last two games. . . . The winner came via the PP, after Calgary F Zack Jones was called for goaltender interference. . . . Prior to that goal, the Hitmen had killed off 16 straight opposition power-play chances. . . . Red Deer D Mathew Dumba returned from a two-game suspension but didn’t get a warm welcome in his hometown. Here’s Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun: “Hitmen fans were still steamed over Dumba’s high hit against winger Joe Kornelsen in the season-opener last week and booed the Rebels blueliner whenever he had the puck.” . . .
The Lethbridge Hurricanes went into Cranbrook and doubled the Kootenay Ice, 4-2. . . . F Russell Maxwell was in on all four Lethbridge goals, scoring twice. . . . Maxwell was ejected with a fighting major and game misconduct in what would appear to be a multi-fight incident at 18:49 of the third period. . . . This was the first four-point game of Maxwell’s WHL career, which is in its third season. He scored three goals in the final game of the 2011-12 regular season. . . . He went into last night’s game pointless in three games. . . .
F Sam Fioretti enjoyed his first WHL hat trick and four-point night in leading the host Moose Jaw Warriors to a 6-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . That was Brandon’s first regulation-time loss this season. The Wheaties now are 4-1-0. . . . Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk played his first game after missing the exhibition season and four regular-season games with a concussion. . . .
F Josh Nicholls scored at 2:28 of OT as the Saskatoon Blades beat the Broncos 2-1 in Swift Current. . . . Saskatoon F Matej Stransky forged a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 17:57 of the third period. The Broncos, who have had trouble staying out of the box in the early going, were one man short at the time, but had just been two men down for 1:21. . . . Swift Current G Landon Bow stopped 42 shots in his first WHL start. . . .
F Hunter Shinkaruk had a goal and three assists as the host Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Regina Pats, 5-1. . . . The Tigers were 3-for-9 on the PP. . . . The Tigers, having won three in a row, now head into the B.C. Division for three games, starting Wednesday in Victoria against the Royals. . . . F Elgin Pearce, acquired Saturday from the Kootenay Ice, is expected to join the Tigers before Wednesday’s game. . . .
F Zach Franko broke a 3-3 tie at 19:01 of the third period to give the Kelowna Rockets a 4-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . Kelowna had lost its last nine regular-season games in Portland. . . . The Rockets, another team that has had discipline issues early in the season, took 43 of the 72 penalty minutes. Portland was 2-8 on the PP; the Rockets were 0-1. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke stopped 43 shots. . . . The Rockets, now 1-2-1, had lost three straight one-goal games prior to this one, with one of those losses coming in OT. . . . Myles Bell, normally a defenceman, played up front for the Rockets and had two goals and an assist. He also got into a couple of scraps. . . . Portland came back with G Brendan Burke, despite Cam Lanigan having posted the first shutout of his career on Friday. Burke stopped 20 shots. . . . The Winterhawks now head into the East Division as they open a six-game swing in Brandon on Friday. Portland doesn’t appear at home again until Oct. 20. . . .
The Seattle Thunderbirds tied the game late and then scored in OT to beat the Cougars 2-1 in Prince George. . . . Seattle F Seth Swenson batted a loose puck out of the air and into the net to tie the game 1-1 at 19:51 of the third period with G Brandon Glover on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . F Shea Theodore won it at 2:00 of OT. . . . Prince George’s home-opener on Friday drew 4,238 fans. Last night, attendance was announced at 1,971. . . . The Cougars, at 3-0-1, have yet to lose in regulation time. They lead the Western Conference and the B.C. Division by a point. . . .
F Mitch Holmberg scored three times in Spokane as the Chiefs opened their home schedule with a 5-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . It was the second three-goal game of Holmberg’s career. . . . The Chiefs are 2-0-0 this season and Holmberg already has six points, four of them goals. . . . Both games have been against the Americans, who lost their home-opener 5-2 to the Chiefs a week earlier. . . . Tri-City F Jesse Mychan left with an undisclosed injury after going heavily into the boards late in the first period.
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CHECKING FROM BEHIND COUNT:
D Jan Bittner, Red Deer
F Jaedon Descheneau, Kootenay
F Ty McLean, Regina (twice in same game)
F Austin Ferguson, Kelowna
D Troy Rutkowski, Portland
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CHECKING TO THE HEAD COUNT:
D Joey Leach, Kootenay
D Spencer Galbraith, Lethbridge
F Matej Stransky, Saskatoon
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